The west is actually moot this year - outside of Lakers, OKC, Portland or Utah, San Antonio pick the first 4-5 spots, any team in the West outside of Minnesota Timberwolves has a chance to make the playoffs due to the large exodus of stars from the West to the East in this years' free agency which has made the stronger Western Conference weak.

The west is actually moot this year - outside of Lakers, OKC, Portland or Utah, San Antonio pick the first 4-5 spots, any team in the West outside of Minnesota Timberwolves has a chance to make the playoffs due to the large exodus of stars from the West to the East in this years' free agency which has made the stronger Western Conference weak.

I would throw Denver, Houston, New Orleans and Phoenix in the mix of teams that should have a very good chance at making it. I think the balance of power is getting far more balanced but the West is still a tough place to play.

When I look at each position and compare this lineup with last years the biggest major difference is Bosh starting. I'm sorry but there is no way he makes a difference of more than 10 wins. Aren't some of the positions even stronger than last year just based on natural development that young players experience? I have to think coaching will also be improved this year with the additions made and Triano having another year under his belt.
I'm hoping they surprise and win more games than last year.

The west is actually moot this year - outside of Lakers, OKC, Portland or Utah, San Antonio pick the first 4-5 spots, any team in the West outside of Minnesota Timberwolves has a chance to make the playoffs due to the large exodus of stars from the West to the East in this years' free agency which has made the stronger Western Conference weak.

Exodus of stars...Who are you talking about other than Boozer and Amare? Two guys who are drastically overrated, primed for a major letdown season while simultaneously submarining thier teams chances of any success. Utah got significantly better letting Boozer leave and snagging Al Jefferson and while Phoenix has been running on fumes for a couple years now, the best non-decision they ever made was not inking Amare to a long term deal.

The west has nearly ever team vying for playoff spots because their entire conference got better over the off season, not worse. GS and Minny got worse and Denver and Phoenix made lateral moves, but everyone else has a shot at 50 games with Sacramento being a playoff dark horse.

It is going to take 50 wins minimum to get the 8th seed in the west where I see 38 wins getting the 8th seed. I think 2 and maybe even 3 teams in the East are going to make the playoffs with below .500 records. The East got bigger and more expensive, by no means did it get better.

The Nets have Avery Johnson and Sam Mitchell coaching.....that should be a fun meltdown to witness

Both those guys have done more in the league as a head coach than Jay Triano. I would rather have either one of those guys running my team than Jay Triano. I think it's going to work well. they've both proven themselves to be good with young players.

j bean wrote:

When I look at each position and compare this lineup with last years the biggest major difference is Bosh starting. I'm sorry but there is no way he makes a difference of more than 10 wins.

You should go through the exercise of looking at the Raptors' record with Bosh out of the lineup. You would be surprised.

Both those guys have done more in the league as a head coach than Jay Triano. I would rather have either one of those guys running my team than Jay Triano. I think it's going to work well. they've both proven themselves to be good with young players.

You should go through the exercise of looking at the Raptors' record with Bosh out of the lineup. You would be surprised.

1. You could always become a Nets fan. Not to difficult to do.

2. Yea with Bosh out of the lineup and Johnson starting the Raptors were 3 - 2. In their loss to Atlanta they lost by a lot less than when Bosh started against Atlanta.

Interestingly enough, the only really bad game the Raptors had in those five when Johnson started was coincidentally the only game that Johnson got in foul trouble and played a really bad game.

the predictions are irrelevant because they're premature: the raptors line up will not be the same come opening tip off.

but then again, if the line up stays that way...that one line is painful to read: "Given the significant dollars tied up in the likes of Jose Calderon, Andrea Bargnani, Leandro Barbosa and Amir Johnson, don't expect a lot of defense" (though Amir would be the best of the lot).

No way in Hell the Raps finish 15th this season...Indy, N.J, Cleve, Det and hopefully Charlotte (Go FUCK yourself Jordan since you thought the garbage you got from Dallas was better than what we were offering) will finish below our Raps...With Bargnani set to have a break out year, the Young Gunz, Jack, Davis, Barbo and whatever else BC adds we'll do better than those idiots responsible for the ESPN rankings are predicting.

I don't see how Indy is going to do anything without a backcourt and Charlotte lost two of thier premier players with their other two due for a major decline. I will be surprised every time the Cavs win a game, they are a lost team with no hope for the future. Detroit is a mess with no direction and the Wiz have studs who have no idea how to win ball games.

wow so much to disagree here:

1. why does indy's pg situation any worse than ours ? at least they have price to develop and tj coming off the books.

2. char lost 2 premier players ? chandler was barely healthy last year and is no where near a "premier player"... why are s jax n wallace "due for a major decline" ??

3. haha why do the cavs have "no hope for the future"

4. why is detroit a mess when they have a lot of young talent (jerebo, daye, monroe, summers) plus rip, prince, b gordon, and cahrlie V... why do they have any less direction than us ?

Looking at this objectively I find it hard to put them in the cellar. The raps lost thier best player, but replaced him adequately for the short term and likely more so in the long term and replaced the LVP of the league with the Euroleague MVP, drafted well and project to see significant improvement from thier young talent.

umm every young player in the league is set to improve, not just the raps "young gunz"

I think we also have to realize some teams in the East will improve this year from last....For example.

Miami will be better
Phily will be better
NJ has to be better
Ny will be better
Chicago will be better
Wasington will be better
Milwaukee is better but may win fewer games baised on the teams above being better

Then factor in that:
Orlando is still good
Boston is still good
Atlanta should still be a playoff team
Detriot should be healthier thus a little better (still going no where but better)
Indiana should be healthier thus a little better (still going no where but better)

That leaves Charlotte who could be better with Steven Jackson there a full season but could be worse due to lack of PG...Clevland who clearly got worse and us...

So the East has improved...Not to say the West has not improved....Sometimes in sports you can improve but the teams improve around you more then you...so you don't actaully win more games even know you improved.....

As for the argument BC is not done shaping the roster, I would agree more changes are very possible it is BC for god sake...He would trade his mother for a nice pair of gold cuff links if he thought they were from Europe...but having said that My rankings as of now would be:

Ok I hate to be the partybreaker here but all of you guys are overrating this team TOO much. Did you forget where they had the Raptors last season?? ninth in the standings with a 39-43 record, that pretty much exactly what we had the previous season.

I'm don't think the Raptors will be as bad as they have us on their standings this season, but lets not overate this team.

What Im saying is lets not expect too much from ESPN.

Fixed it up for you. In that same article, ESPN had the Bucks at 14 and Wizards at 8. LOL. Not to mention that the Bucks were without Bogut and Redd for massive chunks of the season. It's pretty much a crapshoot after the top 4.

I would throw Denver, Houston, New Orleans and Phoenix in the mix of teams that should have a very good chance at making it. I think the balance of power is getting far more balanced but the West is still a tough place to play.

Denver still has the unresolved issue with Carmelo Anthony which may affect their season a la Bosh and LeBron James and George Karl's health issues, Houston still has the "Will Yao Ming recover fully from his knee issues" problems, New Orleans with the Chris Paul saga and Phoenix frontline is actually a joke now(Hedo at the 4? really? Hakeem Warrick filling in for Stoudemire? lol). My point is that the West is actually in a muddle after this years' free agency, when you are seeing teams like OKC and Portland(like their system of development but both need an additional year to be legitimate playoff threat especially for Portland) in the top 5 then the West has gotten weak.

Exodus of stars...Who are you talking about other than Boozer and Amare? Two guys who are drastically overrated, primed for a major letdown season while simultaneously submarining thier teams chances of any success. Utah got significantly better letting Boozer leave and snagging Al Jefferson and while Phoenix has been running on fumes for a couple years now, the best non-decision they ever made was not inking Amare to a long term deal.

The west has nearly ever team vying for playoff spots because their entire conference got better over the off season, not worse. GS and Minny got worse and Denver and Phoenix made lateral moves, but everyone else has a shot at 50 games with Sacramento being a playoff dark horse.

It is going to take 50 wins minimum to get the 8th seed in the west where I see 38 wins getting the 8th seed. I think 2 and maybe even 3 teams in the East are going to make the playoffs with below .500 records. The East got bigger and more expensive, by no means did it get better.

The West actually got weak. Yes, Boozer and Amare don't play excellent defense for their positions but if you are expecting Al Jefferson to start defending legit NBA players when we all know his defense sucks - it is probably asking too much of the guy and Hakeem filling in for Stoudemire? He might get more rebounds but he is not even half as offensively talented as Stoudemire even if Nash really upgraded his game. We all know that Stoudemire can play in the post and can make jumpers, what can we say about Hakeem Warrick? His athleticism is actually only what wows me which is useless in the last 5 minutes of the game when defenses tighten and don't even start me on Hedo playing the 4, that is a crazy joke right there.Lol.